The dealer was very motivated to sell as they had it for almost a year. It had less than 5000 miles and I paid under 35k ($10k off MSRP). I was originally looking for an off-lease A6 w/~30k miles and test drove new and used A6s and even a 2001 S4 (very nice, but $28k), but at this price for a loaded S60R with low miles it was a no brainer. It's not your old man's Volvo - definately worth a test drive. Only downsides - back seat legroom and large turning radius (~21'). The new Rs are coming out soon so it's a good time to take one of these year old ones off their hands.

I am getting a free handout... literally! Somebody in the family is selling their A6 (single owner, 95 or 96, 105K Quattro). When I asked just out of curiousity, they offered to give it to me free, only thing being, I've to drive it cross country or have it picked up. I know they were planning to sell it in the 6-8K range.

Would you enjoy the cross-country drive? For free, what do you have to lose! :-)

And it's not that hard to get a car included on someone else's moving van if you don't want to make the drive. If you get it and at some point decide it was a mistake, you can sell it yourself or give it to a charity.

Haven't tried to get out of a lease early, but my guess is the amount a lessee is "upside down" gets rolled into the new purchase price/lease payment somehow. The better the car holds value, the less "upside down" a lessee would be. Also, less likely to be so upside down towards the end of the lease term.

On my current car, the prepaid miles are at $.20/mile and the miles (over allotted miles) cost $.25/mile at lease end...thus the answer to the inferred time value of money questions above. Also, BMW credit will pay you back for unused miles at lease end if you do prepay them. It still doesn't make sense to oversubscibe because then the lessor has your money for "free" for the lease term.

I don't know what Audi's pricing is in prepaid versus lease-end miles but it wouldn't make sense (other than for budgeting purposes, perhaps) to prepay miles at the same rate/mile at which you would have to pay the overage later. If they're the same...then do a 10k mile lease and write a big check or roll into a payment on a new car at lease end.

i do love cross country drives, done it many time and thoroughly enjoyed each one of them, whether rushed or not.... the question is, am i buying myself a white elephant that will kill me on maintenance.... i'm otherwise really looking to buy a brand new car, something like the upcoming RL...

You mention that the "leasor" has your money for "free" for the lease of the term. If you KNOW, and that is a key word, that you are going to go over your miles, you are better off to get them at $.20. You are saving 20% from the end cost or another way would be your cost would increase by 25%! Unless you are a great investor, you will not beat that return in the short run. We all must pay the piper some day!Just my observation.

I wish I could tell you how the new A6 4.2 quattro drove -- no one was allowed to drive it that night.

The sales people did have some wheel time, and my long term sales rep said it was a Not too mini-A8, perhaps almost an A8 SWB.

I cannot comment on anything pertaining to the driving dynamics.

All that you have heard and read about the car looking different in person, is fundamentally true. The trout mouth effect is in 2D only, in the flesh, so to speak, the car looks well proportioned and the snout does not stick out, IMHO.

Having said that, the interior is another Audi Jewel, the fit and finish overall are of course darn near perfect -- in fact I could find zero flaws in this Euro spec'd (but apparently fully loaded) A6 4.2. The sound system is much improved over the current gen, but I could not test the Sat Radio and the DVD navi was totally European, so I programmed it for Verona Italy, but since we were parked inside, I could not tell how the system responded except to say the MMI was easier than anything MicroSoft or Apple has ever dreamed of in terms of ease of use.

I cannot comment on iDrive, so I am NOT saying anything that could be taken as a comparison. The mixture of knobs and software switches seemed virtually intuitive. So I will just leave the comments at that.

The trunk opening appears smallish, but the thing certainly appears as if it could swallow a lot of luggage, golf bags and perhaps other odd sized stuff -- but it is not to be confused with any sport ute in this regard. The trunk space is, in a word, ample!

The switchgear is all totally high zoot, soft and damped, the windows go up and down silently and swiftly. The dash appears easy to read and I didn't have to ask where any control was or what any switch or dial or gizmo was, it was so easy to figure out.

The 18" wheels and 255 wide tires on 40 aspect ratio tires looked purposeful and the seats, sport seats in this model, were comfortable and supportive, some with wider bums may prefer the comfort seats -- I have never had any issue with either, the side bolsters are there for a purpose, but it is so seldom anymore that I get into a situation where I need to be held in place while I negotiate that last S turn around the track -- I275 has so few curves that is.

This model did not have the air suspension but I suspect it did have the sport (slightly lower) suspension.

I saw the official order guides for both engines -- and a sport package is on both. All packages or options are available on both cars, apparently the biggie is that the 3.2 cannot be had with a power steering column but the 4.2 will have it.

Further, some options on the 3.2 are standard in the 4.2.

The price will be "base" at $40 until January then it will go up by $3K. The Premium pack is exactly $3K so I posed the question, will ANY come without Premium pack, and the answer was ONLY if ordered without it by a specific customer.

I posed the question and go no answer "well, then, is the $3K uplift in price implying that the car will come with the so called Premium Package" as standard in 2005 (January forward)?"

The sales rep said that would not be an unreasonable approach, but that some people would be a little miffed if they "fell for 'false' price increase" after 3 months.

Impressive, spacious, but, typical Audi -- understated. The car, although certainly a Premium Class Car appears to be more sporting than lux oriented, more for the driver -- this is probably what they intended, since their stated target is BMW not Mercedes.

I don't yet know how this compares or will compare with a similar sit but not drive in a new Acura RL.

I didn't put my name on the list -- I am certain that like every other HOTTIE, the price will soften within a few months after the arrival of the first cars.

Too many times, I have "been the first on my block" to get the new Audi only to find those that followed 4 or 5 months later got more features and a better deal (late arrival features or delayed introduction functions and features especially in the first gen kind of thing).

I can place my order in early '05 and probably get XACTLY what I want -- and, who knows, if inventory is what they say it will be (150 cars) I may be able to get what I want without ordering -- now that will be a first!

. . .btw, a fully loaded A6 3.2 can be configured with all options except sport seats and uprated leather for $51,550. Assuming a modest disount, I would venture that the car will be about $48,550 street price. This may or may not sway anyone to do anything if they are Audi lovers or bashers -- but the rumors, apparently of sky high prices are just that. So configured, and using LIST PRICE, this new A6 would be little more than a current model 2.7T S-Line and have, to my eye, more features or better features. Apples to apples the new A6 seems to be about the same bucks as the outgoing S-Line (at MSRP, not at the current deep discounts off MSRP).

Haven't figured out the comparo with the 4.2, but I suspect this will hold true.

Just got done visiting the local Audi and BMW dealers here in Heidelberg, Germany. Was debating about buying either the 2005 A6 or 2005 530i. After I spent about 20 minutes in each car alone and with the dealer going through most of the controls, my overall impression was that the Audi had the better interior. The 530 seemed angular and boxy, a teutonic tank compared to the smooth oval form of the A6 cabin. I thought the Audi instrumentation was better too. The BMW seemed sparse in comparison. Both had a solid feel to the doors but the Audi seemed to close with less effort. Audi had more passanger room in the back seat as well. As far as the iDrive vs MMI comparison, the iDrive worked with a side to side motion whereas the MMI was a rotary knob. I suspect either is easy to operate with a little practice. The Audi had a very quick navigation system, maps appeared in seconds. The dealer asserted it was the fastest in the industry. He also told me Audi in Germany assumed it would sell 10,000 A6s so far but had sold 18,000. The front of the vehicle and the grill is aggressive. It swoops down giving it a shark-like profile. By comparison, the only word that came to mind with the BMW, especially after I had spent time inside, was again, boxy. Overall, my personnal preference is for the Audi.

Ok....Leased a 2001 A6 2.8. Trasnferred to my sister, and purchased my dad's 2000 A8 about a year ago. The A8 has 80k miles, extended warranty through 100k (though VERY limited, it seems), and recently went through 1k or what otherwise could be termed minor servicing and maintenance.

So....while waiting for the new A6's to come out I ran across what seemed to be a very nice lease deal for the A6 2.7 S line. $429/month. Granted, 10k miles would kill me, and there was a decent amount down (my 2001 lease, all I did was pay first month).

Here's my question- can I negotiate this lease deal? If I went in and offered to pay that $429 (plus tax, etc.), but give me 15k miles a year and show me "audi loyalty" by knocking off some of the cap cost?

Lastly, I have a trade-in. Never traded in before on a lease- always a purchase. Ideally I could take the $ from the worth of my car (somewhere in the mid-teens I think but haven't checked recently since I was going to wait for the new A6's) and use it to pay down a lease. But I know that is not how the dealership works- what are my options there?

Nuvolari,(isn't that what the Audi folk are calling the new 'snout' ?) Anyway I'm almost certainly going to order a 4.2 and am curious what the inherent difference is between the two (4.2 vs. 3.2) and what were your driving impressions on Aug. 10/11 ? I use to live in SoCal but am in Memphis these days.Appreciate the feedback.Prodoze

Would the sport seats be a bad idea if you (me) wore a 48L sportcoat ? Would the 'wings' not fit my shoulder width ? (make sense ?) Also, I heard the regular suspension was pretty tight. The sport suspension must be brutal.

It's my understanding that the adjustable suspension won't become available until next year. I have also heard that the regular suspension is quite tight (as per Audi it is over 35% tighter than the old series).

My personal experience with test driving the 3.2 version was that it was tight without feeling every bump on the road. I felt in control of the car with rapid response and not too cushioned (unlike a Lexus drive) yet the drive also felt comfortable. Sometimes when driving a sports car, you feel too much, almost painful to drive over a rough road...this was not the case. Obviously, I liked it. Likely not as sporty or responsive as a BMW, but also not as soft or cushioned from the road as a Mercedes. Just my opinion FWIW.

The best way to tell about the sport seats for someone your size would be to sit in them. Even a 2004 A6 sport seat would give you an idea of how comfortable or uncomfortable they'd be for you.

From all the browsing of various Audi web sites I've done over the past few months I, too, have heard initial reports that the new A6 regular, i.e. non-sport suspension, is quite harsh, even "flinty." But, I've also read that Audi is trying to make the regular suspension less harsh before U.S. spec. versions are sent here.

If harshness (or lack thereof)is of concern to you (as it is to me since I live in Center City Phila.), your best bet would be to test drive new A6's both with and without sport suspension.

In my case, I'm so concerned about avoiding a harsh ride in my city, that I intend to drive newA6's both with the regular suspension and the forthcoming adjustable suspension to see which is better for me before I order a new A6. I'm leaning toward the adjustable suspension, since that might give me more comfort in the city and the option of lowering the suspension (to make it more sport-like) when I'm out of the city. Might not be as stiff as sport suspension, but would probably be stiffer than the regular suspension.

I have a '99.5 A4 2.8 quattro, sport package, with 49K miles and love it! For going up to the mountain (volunteer Ski Patrol) I use studless traction tires (Bridgestone Blizzak) - a breeze (I put them on in Nov and take them off in Mar).However, the new 2005 A6 looks really good so I may take a look at it...

1. Of course you can negotiate the lease. Actually, you will be negotiating the "Capitalized Cost" of the vehicle, which is the same as the negotiations if you were buying the car. Second, the "Money Factor" or interest rate for the '04 S Line is currently .0001 (multiply by 2400 to get the APR) through the end of August, which in incredible. If the lease is through AFS, don't let the dealer pad it to make some back end profit. The final componenet of the lease is the "Residual Value". This cannot be negotiated.

2. As far as the trade goes, it is a terrible idea to put ANYTHING down on a lease (aka "cap cost reduction") and this includes trade ins (I can tell you why if you'd like). My advice would be do negotiate the value or your trade and have the deal cut you a check. Or sell the vehicle outright.

3. The $429 isn't bad, but since you shouldn't put any money down (see #2), the monthly payment will go up. The S Line can be had for $1500-$2000 BELOW invoice (there are incentives), so sharpen negotiation skills. I am in the market for one of these and I have calculated a payment of about $525 for 12k miles/year & a 36 month lease. This presumes a $48k MSRP, a negotiated cap price below invoice, and includes MA sales tax.

4. Read some of the info regarding leasing here in the edmunds web site. They have tons of info/tips.

THE INFORMATION, BELOW, IS BEING POSTED HERE IN THE HOPE THAT THOSE WHO READ IT WILL CONTACT THE AUDI DEALERS OR SOURCES THEY KNOW AND TRUST TO LEARN IF IT IS ACCURATE (EITHER IN WHOLE OR IN PART) AND, THEN, TO LET ALL OF US KNOW WHAT THEY'VE LEARNED:

1. This past Thursday (8/19/04), one of the Audi dealers I've been talking to (for months) about buying a new A6 called to tell me that he'd just learned that MSRP's of ALL U.S. spec. A6's PRODUCED AFTER 12/31/04 would increase by $1,000. To avoid that price increase, he suggested I firm up my order by the end of October.(Both he and the other Audi dealers I've spoken to in the past few months all told me it usually takes 3 months from the time an order is placed till the car is delivered to its buyer).

2. Yesterday (8/21/04), I spoke with the 2nd of the Audi dealers I've been talking to regularly and was told that (A) the MSRP's of all the new A6's will go up by (at least) $1,000 once dealers are able toorder cars for their "stock" inventory, i.e., after cars ordered by customers at the initial MSRP's of $40,900 (for the 3.2) or $50,500 (for the 4.2) have been delivered (which will most likely occur before 12/31/04); and (B) that PRODUCTION of U.S. spec. A6's has not even begun yet and, further, may not start for another month or more!! That dealer then said that they didn't expect to receive their 1st A6's (on "sold orders") til late November/early December 2004.

3. I believe it would be helpful to all prospectivebuyers who want to place their order to avoid any future price increase to have accurate information about when during the alleged 3-month "waiting period" between ordering and taking delivery a car is actually manufactured. I was unable to get a clear answer on this, i.e., my 1st dealer implied the car is made about 60 days after being ordered, and it then takes 30 days to get to him; but, my 2nd dealer implied a car might get produced in 30 days, be shipped to the U.S. by day 60 and then sit around "at the port" for another 30 days. The 2nd dealer also implied A of A may be holding off on bringing in the new U.S. spec. A6's because of the quantity of unsold 2004 A6's still in dealers' inventories.

AGAIN, ANYTHING ANYONE CAN FIND OUT AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE OF ALL OF US WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

Here is what I have heard from the Audi sales rep, the Audi sales manager and the "Audi marketing rep:"

1. The initial price of the new A6 will be whatever it is (98% substantiated $40,900 for the 3.2, for example.)

2. The price will increase after 90 days (Jan 2005?)

3. The base price target is $43,900.

4. The Premium Package costs exactly $3,000.

5. A "brand new" model that is popular, from ANY manufacturer, generally commands 100% of MSRP sometimes even more (remember the Chrysler PT Cruiser and the Cayenne and the Chrysler 300C, to name a few?)

6. Audi of America wants to have the vast majority of its cars sold at the retail level from IN STOCK inventory -- note, of the nearly 30 Audis my wife and I have purchased, we have only purchased one from off the lot (we must be in the tiny tiny minority).

=========

Add, subtract, multiply, divide, factor or perform any manipulation on these data points that you wish.

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Please consider the possibility that the price you will pay in the first few months will be close to MSRP regardless of what MSRP is.

Also consider the possibility that after the initial roll out, that the car will be discounted like, er, um -- almost any car -- no matter what its pedigree and no matter what its price point.

OK, now exhale.

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Consider the possibility that Audi, who has done this EXACT same thing before, may offer the new A6 sans Premium Pack on day 1, then on day 91, will include the Premium Pack in the base.

Six of one, half dozen. . .etc.

If you want to read the postings from, say, the past 18 months for new cars -- you've come to da right place, Edmunds.

Read and read and read and read and you will see that time after time a new car comes out and is sold for "sticker" and within 2 to 6 months the price that is paid virtually plummets, regardless of the MSRP. Cap cost reduction in leasing terms is a normal and standard and predictable course of events.

The Audi A6, despite my passion and loyalty for the brand will, with 99.999% certainty follow this pattern.

I have seen nothing that suggests otherwise.

The WORST that will happen is that you will purchase your fully loaded A6 3.2 with an MSRP of $51,550 for X% of MSRP early on or some fraction of X% a few months afterwards.

It's always been this way, probably always will.

Here are some things to think about:

1. early on in a new model run, PTF's are made "regularly & frequently"

2. when a new MODEL YEAR, but not necessarily a new MODEL comes along, the lease prices are often less, due to the residual factor

3. when a model year is coming to an end, the CAP COST declines, but so does the residual factor

4. often in a new model year, new features and functions (and PTF's) are "delayed availability"

As you may recall, I also mentioned in my post #272 on July 15th that I'd heard from one of the Audi dealers I'd been talking to that the base MSRP of the 2005 A6 3.2 would go up to $43,900 by 90 days after launch, e.g. by Jan. 2005, but I was also told at that time it would increase by $1K a month over 3 months to get to that amount. More recently,that dealer has not repeated the $1K a month deal.

The reason I was asking in my post #373 yesterday what others have heard more recently is the slightinconsistency between two of the dealers I talk toregularly about both the amount and timing of the MSRP increases. Maybe, when you next talk to your Audi info. sources, you could just get an update onwhen they now expect any MSRP increases to be effective.

Like you, I also have only bought cars ordered with the spec.'s and options that I want. So, when you next speak with your contacts, maybe you could also get a view on when during the 3 months between ordering and delivery a car is usually actually made, since there's a chance that the timing of ordering may be able to be done before an MSRP increase is effective.Thanks,